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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 116 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  4. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  21. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. field — for sport
  3. bank — of a river
  4. firm — decided
  5. band — a music group
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. field — farmland
  8. clip — a video
  9. firm — steady
  10. sharp — clever
  11. kid — child
  12. clip — to cut
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. root — of a plant
  15. field — a subject
  16. firm — a company
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. bank — for money
  19. clip — for paper
  20. root — the cause
  21. root — of a word
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. band — a ring
  24. bank — for money

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com